Process of and apparatus for operating internal-combustion engines



Feb. 14, 1928. 1,658,933

w. w. MUiR PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR OPERATING INTERNAL COMBUSTIONENGINES Filed Aug. 16, 1922 12) In: 11. tor

Warns] Pawnee Feb. 14,1928.

UNITED, STATES, PATENT, oF-Fics;

WELLINGTON W. MUIB, OF LOCKPORT, NEW YORK.

rnocnss or AND APPARATUS non oral-terms INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENG NEApplication filed August 16, 1922. Serial No. 582,219,

This invention relates to a process of and an apparatus for operatinginternal combustion engines, and has-for its object to pro-v Vide ameans which will be more etlicient than those which have been heretoforeproA ess, and in the novel parts and combinations of parts constitutingthe apparatus, alias will be more fully hereinafter disclosed andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all theviews:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic partially sec' tional View of a coolingsystem'for internal combustion engines, made in accordance with thisinvention; and v 7 c Figure 2 is a View similar to Figure 1,

showing a somewhat modified arrangement of the cooling system. Y

1 indicates an internal combustion engine jacket, 2 a pipe or passageleading froinsaid jacket, 8 a Venturi tube or what is commonly known asa Gili'ard injector, connected to said tube 2, I} a tank into which saidinjector delivers. 5 the normal level of liquid in-the tank 6 thefilling opening for saidxtank 4:, 7 a filling'capadapted to'beadjustably screwed up and down over the opening 6, 8 a tube or passageextending up into the opening (3, and connectingwith-the chamber 3 S),and' the water tubes '10 o'tlany suitable form or radiator core, open.at their upper ends as shown. 11 indicates heat radiating this or othermeans for conducting away the heat of thewater in'said tubes 10; 12indicates a liquid tank orchamber into which the lower ends of saidtubes 10 open, and 18 indicates a vent tube or passage leading from thetank'lZ, adapted to carryaway any air that may be brought over by thecondcnsed fluid in said tank 12. Leading from the tank 12 to the suctionsideof the pump is a'pipe 14 and joining the ioi'ce'side of said pump 15with the pipe orgpassageio is the pipe 17,. Said pipe 16-leadsback1ntothe jacket-1, aswillbe clearitromjthedraw- :ings. Leading from the lowerportion of the tank 4: is the pipe or passage 18 and leading from said:passage 18 is the pipe '19 which entersthe suction side of the pump '20;Leading from the force or delivery side of said pump 20 is the pipe 21which joins or is made integral with the pipe 16, above mentioned. 5

The operation oli'this invention, as above disclosed, is as follows: V

The liquid in the jacket 1 becomes heated through the explosions intheicombustion chambers, not shown, and passes-- out through therestriction 23 ofthe Venturi tube 3, which causes air to be suckedthrough the tube 22, and passages 24, into said fluid or liquid,whereupon the mixed air and fluid finds its way in the tank 4 andcollects up to about the level 5, as illustrated. At the level 5 watervapor in the form of steam, and air are freely given of? and enters theupper open end of the tube 8 whence it passes down into the chamber9into the water tubes 10 of the radiator 25, whenceit passes in acondensed form into the lower chamber 12; When the mixed vapor and airreaches the lower chamber 12, air present will be vented out of theventtube 131:0 the atmosphere, as indicated by the arrows. In themeantime, the pump15 sucksthe condensed fluid into its suction side andforces back into the tankd, which maintains the pressure in the acket 1considerably higher than the pressure in the tank t The level in thetank a is maintained substantially constant by the mechanism nowto bedis closed. 7 r i :l

28 represents an overflow controlled by the valve 29, whose stem issurrounded by the springs 30 and 31 separated by the bracket 32. 38represents a bell crank lever pivoted at 34, one arm of which is adaptedto compress the spring 30 and thus force the valve 29 toward the right,as seen in Figure 1, to close the passage 28. The other arm of said bellcrank lever is secured to thesleeve located between the pipe 8 and thefilling opening 6 which is adapted to contact with the under side of thefilling caa 7 as shown The s rin 31-nornially 1 l v a s presses againstthe-bracket 02, and the head 88 of the valve stem and thus tends to maintain the valve 29 open and the sleeve 37 111 its elevated position.Therefore, by un screwing the filling cap 7, the overflow pipe 28 isopened, and the liquid is maintained at the level as illustrated. On theother hand, by screwing down on the lilling cap 7, the sleeve 37 will belowered, whereupon the spring will. be con'mressed, and the overflow 28will be more or less closed, whereupon the liquid level 5 will rise.When the overflow 28 is completely closed, the liquid will rise toapoint at which it will overflow into the pipe 8, and in such case, theradiator 25 will operate as a liquid cooling system, instead of a steamcooling system. On the other hand, when the parts are in the positionshown in the drawings, only steam and air will pass through theradiator, while if the over iow 28 is only parti'ally restricted so thatthe level 5 comes to about the top or a little bit below the top of thepipe 8, the radiator will operate as what is known as a semi-wet system,which is a system en'iploying both steam and liquid.

Another ad antage of the valve 29 resides in the fact that when the an Tis unscrewed the ovcriiow is IIQCGSQrLY opened by the spring 3i, andtherefore one cannot put too much water into the system, for the levelof the liquid therein cannot rise above that indicated at In thiscooling system, the surplus heat in the motor is absorbed both by theradiator 25 in the regular way, and by the additional air which issucked in through the pipe The higher pressure in the jacket 1 which ismaintained by the Vcnturi tube 3, enables a higher uniform temperatureto be maintained in the combustion chambers, and thus can poor fuel beburn-ed in said combustion chambers with greater facility than has beenthe case heretofore.

Coming now to the somewhat modified form of the invention shown invFigure the jacket 1, passage 2, Veniuri tube 3, pipe 8, water passages10, lins 11, raoiator 25, tank 12, and vent tube 13 is or may be thesame as in the preceding disclosure. In this modified form, however, thetank 40 is of a different shape from that shown in Figure l, and thefilling cap 41 is so placed that the level 42 of the liquid is fixed bysaid filling cap. Further, the passage 43 from the tank 40 leads down tothe pump 44 which delivers through the passage 45 back into the jacket1.

In operation, this form of the invention issubstantially the same asthat previously described, in that the pump 44 circulates liquid aroundand I around the circuit through the acket- 1, the passage2, the Vonturitube 3, passages 44 and 45. Thus is the pressure in the jacketmaintained at a point higher than that of the atmosphere, or than thatin the tank 40. Steam is given off from the level 42 of the liquid andpasses down along withan air that may be entrapped in the fluid throughthe pipe 8 into the chamber 9 through the water tubes 10 of the radiatorand finds itself condensed in the tank 12, whence it is sucked by theVenturi tube or injector 3 past the valve 46 up through the tube 47 andis delivered into the passage 43 and tank 42, as shown. In the meantime,the air that has been. entrapped in the fluid escapes from the tank 12and passes up through the vent tube 13 and past the valve 48 into theatmosphere. The said valve 48 prevents air from entering the system whenthe pressure therein is less than that of the atmosphere which is oftenthe case when the steam is freely condensed. The funnel shaped mouth 50of the passage 43 causes the surplus fluid which is forced underpressure through the venturi 3 to pass upwardly into the tank 40, aswill be readily understood.

This escape for the surplus water regulates the even flow of the fluidthrough the jacket and the maintaining of the pressure in the jacket ata substantially constant point notwithstanding the variations intemperature of the combustion chambers. In this case, it will beobserved that there is a considerable superatmospheric pressure alwaysexisting in the motor jacket and generally a pressure less than that ofthe atmosphere existing in the tank 12 at the bottom of the radiator.

It will now be clear that in both forms of the invention, one is enabledto maintain a constant pressure in the jacket above that of theatmosphere, and therefore a substantial- 1y constant temperature in thecombustion chambers, which is higher than that due to an atmosphericpressure in the jacket, and from this fact. follows two very importantadvantages in the operation of the motor. That is, as is well known, itis veryv desirable indeed to maintain around the combustion chambers asubstantially uniforn'i temperature because the fuel inixturccan be soadjusted as to ignite with greater efficiency at a given temperature,and when this said temperature is once established the motor willcontinually run with its greatest satis faction, so long as saidtemperature is maintained. But it is further Well known that it is verydiflicult indeed to maintain such uniform temperature because thetemperature of the combustion chambers are constantly changing, due tothe'varying loads put on the engine and to the varying operating conditions such as changes in the atmospheric temperature, changes in thealtitude at which the motor is operated and therefore changes in theoxygen supply, etc. In this invention, on the other hand, thetemperature of the combustion chambers is raised considerably above thatwhich could a be maintained with an atmospheric pressure in the jackets,and therefore considerable variations in the temperature of the com--bustion chambers can be had withoutvarying appreciably over long periodsthe temperature of the jacket fluid, for the surplus heat given off bythe combustion chambers under heavy loads will be absorbed in the formof latent heat and carried off in the form of steam. On the other hand,when the temperature of the combustion chambers beginsto lower due tolighter loads, the surplus heat that has already been absorbed by thejacket walls, the steam present etc, will be given back to a greater orless extent and thus it is found to be rather difficult to suddenlychange the jacket tempera ture or the satisfactory performance of themotor, notwithstanding the sudden changes of load and workingconditions.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and it is further recognized that likechanges could be made in the operation of the system, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as disclosed. Therefore I do not wishto be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by theclaims.

What I claim is:

1. In a cooling system foran internal combustion engine the combinationof a jacket; a tank for holding an excess supply of cooling fluid forsaid jacket; a pump and circuit for continuously circulating said fluidthrough said jacket and tank; means in said circuit to restrict the flowof fluid and maintain the pressure in said jacket above that in saidtank; means associated -with said last named means to admit air to saidcircuit; a radiator; a tank for condensed fluidassociated with saidradiator; means to pass vapors from said first named tank into saidradiator for condensation and collection in said second named tank;means associated with said second named tank to ventair therefronr; andmeans to pass the condensate from saidsecond named tank back into saidcircuit, substantially as described.

2. The process of operating a cooling sys- 3. The process of maintaininga relati\'*ely high temperature in the jacket fluid of an internalcombustion engine which consists in passing said fluid out of saidjacket at a superatmospheric pressure through a Venturi tube; admittingair to said fluid as it leaves said jacket; cooling .said fluid; andforcing said fluid void of said air back into said jacket at asuperatmospheric pressure, substantially as described. a

The process of maintaining atemperature in the jacket fluid of aninternal combustion engine higher than that correspond ing toatmospheric pressure which consists in so restricting the passage ofsaid fluid out of said jacket as to cause it to rise to aSuperatmospheric pressure; mixing air with said fluid and continuouslyforcing said fluid back into said jacket at a rate sufficient tomaintain said last named tially as described.

5. The process of maintaining a temperature in the jacket fluid of aninternal combustion engine higher than that correspond ing toatmospheric pressure which consists in so restricting the passage ofsaid fluid out of said jacket to cause it to rise to asuperatmosphericpressure; mixing air with said fluid; condensing any vapors given offand continuously forcing said fluid and condensate back into said jacketat a rate su licient to maintain said last named stantially asdescribed.

6, In a cooling system forinternal come bustion engine, the combinationof a jacket;

a tank for holding an excess supply of cool of said air to said jacket.

7. In a cooling system for an internal combustion engine, thecombination of a jacket; a tank for holding an excess supply of coolingfluid for said jacket; means comprising a pump to continuously circulatesaid fluid through said tank and jacket;a restriction in said meansdisposed between said jacket and tank to maintain the pressure in saidjacket higher than that in said tank and adapted to admit air to saidcircuit;and means for cooling the fluid in said tank and returning itvoided of said air to said jacket.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WELLINGTON I/V. MUIR.

pressure, substanpressure, sub-

